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Monday, September 16, 2013

ONE SONG + ONE BALL = FUN AND LEARNING!

Introducing the Great Big Ball to the class.

Hi from Miss Carole at Macaroni Soup: Active Music for Kids! In 24 years of teaching Music and Movement,
I have yet to find a child who doesn’t like balls! One of my son’s first 10 words was “BALL!” after Mama, of course! His eyes would light up and his hands would
reach for any ball in sight!

So what
could be better than a

“GREAT BIG BALL”?

To start
you need a very large ball. I have used medicine balls, but
prefer an inflated beach ball because it weighs less, can be transparent and is
familiar to children. Google “giant
beach ball” and you’ll find lots of options for 42”-48” balls ranging from
$5.95 – 23.95. The one you see in these
pictures is a 48” ball that was about $12.
(Even Amazon.com has them!) Also, it’s the end of the season, so check out
your local stores for clearances on Summer beach toys.

Learn the song –
the lyrics are VERY simple! I don’t have
an author credit for this song- I don’t know who wrote it or even where I heard
it about 15 years ago! But it stuck in
my head – and it will in yours! If you
know who wrote it – please contact me!

Chorus:

Who’s gonna get that great big ball as
it rolls around the room?

Who’s gonna get that great big ball as
it rolls around the room?

Who’s gonna get that great big ball as
it rolls around the room?

We’re gonna find out soon!

Passing practice - before singing!

Verse:

Jessie’s got that great big ball

Rolling from her head to her toes

Rolling from her head to her toes

Rolling from her head to her toes

Jessie’s got that great big ball

Rolling from her head to her toes

But look out, Jessie – here it goes!

Once passing is going well, start singing!

What to do:Introduce the ball to your children
once they are sitting in a circle on the floor.
Stand in the middle of the circle to keep the ball moving as the
children pass it all the way around the circle once. Tell them that when you stop singing, whoever
the ball is in front of lays down and you will roll the ball up and down their
body, from head to toes! BEGIN!

Believe it or not, I did this last week with my classes of 4 year olds
at the first music class – and they LOVED IT!
If you have some shy violets, they can sit in someone’s lap, and you
control where the ball stops – don’t stop at someone who looks the least bit
fearful.

Helpful Hints:

Get a battery-powered or electric
pump – it makes for easy inflation/deflation.

Remember – passing is a learned
skill, not something children innately know how to do.Take a moment to teach passing.It will make this activity run smoothly.

Sometimes a child holds onto the ball
– that’s why you’re in the middle – to keep it going!

If there are more than 10 children,
have them lay down 2 at a time – “Joe and James have got that great big ball…”
or “2 girls have got that great big ball…

2 boys have got that great big ball...

...rolling from their head to their toes!

What is learned?Cooperation can be fun!Especially
at the beginning of the school year, learning to “share” by passing is an easy
thing when done to music! We’re also
saying the names of the children – another chance for classmates to identify each other. We also create shared experience,or community.Look at the boy’s face in the left picture above as he shares
the excitement with a friend – priceless!

As you see in this last picture, I have EVERYONE lay down and I pass the
ball over all of them. Each child does
not get a chance to be singled out with a verse each time we do this song, so
this final “EVERYONE LAY DOWN” verse solves the “…but I didn’t get a turn”
whine!

One of the funniest things is how the ball bumps along their tummies - because they're laughing!